HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT I3J

place. It wouldn't pay me not to believe it; time was
money, and it wouldn't do to lose myself my first day
loose in the Liberian interior.

For hours as I lay in bed I heard the faint music
of the harps, the low sound of Alfred talking to the
carriers; I wondered what I'd do if they refused to
obey me. I suppose it is the thought which strikes
every new prefect at school, but I had never been a
prefect; I had never before so abjectly depended on
other people's obedience. I was glad afterwards that
I hadn't for a moment imagined that Alfred, oily,
smart, ingratiating, mutinous Alfred, might be right.

It was the first time I had slept in a native hut, and
foolishly, for the sake of privacy, I kept the door
closed, as the natives do themselves for fear of wild
animals from the forest. I had never experienced
such heat; it was like a blanket over the face, even
the thin muslin mosquito-net took the breath. But
at any rate there were not yet rats; only a few rustles
hi the roof, and in the end I fell asleep in spite of
Alfred's whisper, the music and the heat and the
strangeness.

The Primitive

I was called at five by Mark and Amah, whom I
again sent on ahead to warn the chief at Duogobmai.
It was just as well to get Amah out of the way; Vande
had chosen him as second headman, but already I
could tell how unpopular he was. He was the only
Mandingo among the carriers, and for the first week
of the march tribal differences caused almost con-